WELCOME!to

THE TURTLE POND

Little River Elementary School

2013 - 2014

MRS. GUNTER’S FOURTH GRADE CLASS

I have been married to Clay Gunter, a teacher at Oak Grove Elementary School, for almost 19 years. We have two daughters. Brittany is 15 and in 10th grade; Sydney is 13 and in 8th grade.

I was a Special Education teacher for 11 years, and I have taught every grade except Kindergarten. This is my second year in General Education 4th grade. (And I love it!)

Gifted EndorsementTeach 21 EndorsementTeacher Support Specialist Endorsement

Eagle Expectations

* Little River Behavior Expectations* • E--Enter school on time prepared and ready to learn • A---Accept responsibility for your own actions and

behaviors • G---Give praise and use kind words ~ be a "Bucket

Filler" • L---Lead by example and respect self, others, and

school property • E---Excellence in education is of the utmost

importance • S---Silent and orderly movement in hallways

(Second tile, single file, with a smile)

These expectations are to be followed everywhere throughout Little River .

Our Schedule

7:30-7:50 Homeroom

7:50-8:40 Connections

8:45-8:55 Snack/RR Break

8:55-10:45 Literacy Block (Reading/Language Arts)

10:50-11:20 Lunch

11:20-11:45 Recess

11:50-1:00 Social Studies/Science Block 1

1:00-2:10 Social Studies/Science Block 2

2:10-2:15 Pack Up/Prepare for Dismissal

2:15-2:20 First Bus Load/Car Riders

2:20-2:45 Second Bus Load/ASP

We are on a six day rotation. I will post a monthly calendar on our class website. In addition, I will send home a paper copy with your child at the beginning of every month.

Agendas:We will use this to write homework down on a daily basis. You will also find lots of useful information listed in the front about our school.

Behavior Logs:Each student has a purple folder with a weekly behavior chart. This chart is based upon the Eagle Expectations. Please be sure to look at this chart each evening. Yellow Folders:Yellow “Take Home” folders will be coming home daily. Please look and see if there is anything that needs to be filled out or signed.

Finally, please sign/initial the agenda AND behavior chart on a nightly basis.

YELLOW FOLDERS, BEHAVIOR CHARTS, AND AGENDAS

PTA- Please join the Parent Teacher Association. I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE 100% from our homeroom. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Birthdays- If your child would like to celebrate their birthday at school, you can send in and serve a snack during lunch which is 10:50-11:20. Please remember to send plastic utensils that might be needed to cut or serve your treats!

Conferences– I will have Fall and Spring conferences. At other times during the year they will be held on an “as needed” basis.

Homework- The purpose of homework is to reinforce skills being taught in class. However, I really try to keep written HW to a minimum. There will be a spelling contract and vocabulary words to study each week, but your child should not be spending more than 20 minutes per night doing HW. We try to do everything in class for Science and Social Studies.

HOUSEKEEPING

MISCELLANEOUSSchool Hours- The day begins at 7:30 a.m. Students are marked tardy after 7:45 a.m. The day ends at 2:15 p.m.

Lunch- $2.00 per day. Please remember to put your student’s ID number on their lunch money envelopes.

Breakfast- $1.25 daily. Money for breakfast can be (is) deducted from your student’s lunch account. You can send breakfast money separately if you would rather.

Ice Cream $0.60 on Fridays. I will NOT make change. However, if you would like to pay for 8 weeks at a time, you may send in $5 with your student. I will then tell him/her when s/he needs more Ice Cream money.

Transportation- If your child is going home in a manner other than the normal route, you must use the LRE Transportation Change Form to notify of us that change. These can be found on the school’s website. You can send it to school with your child, or if it is a last-minute change, you may fax it to the office. No emails will be accepted for transportation changes.

(aka AR)- This program provides computerized comprehension tests on a wide variety of books which can be found in our library. The students are awarded points for taking each test. Points are awarded depending on the length and level of each book and % correct on each test. This program is a wonderful analysis tool.

However, in fourth grade we are not focusing solely on AR points for the students. We are also focusing on genres of books. The students will be bringing home an AR Contract very soon. Please take the time to come up with a goal and then send it back into school with your child. This contract will be changed every semester.

Every nine weeks the students will take the Star Reading Test. Then a report will be run to show what level of books would be appropriate for that student. This is a helpful tool to assess reading level.

Accelerated Reader

Success Maker is another wonderful computer program your child will have access to during the school day. This program concentrates on math and reading concepts. Each student has his/her own Success Maker account. Each time they log in, the computer starts the review by asking questions that the student previously missed. This program is also a wonderful analysis tool for teachers. Teachers can print out reports on each student that details the student’s approximate math and reading level, problem hot spots, and length of time needed to answer each question.

SUCCESS MAKER

Be sure your child is here before the 7:45 bell or your child will be marked tardy. That gives them time to unpack and prepare for the day.

Please make sure the students are ready for the school day with snack in a bag, homework complete and all necessary papers signed.

Reading to Learn…Not Learning to Read

*Scott Foresman Reading Series

*Historical Fiction – Dear America Series

*Novels – Whole Class and Literature Circles

*Nonfiction Books

*Poetry

On Monday, we take a Spelling Pre-test. Students will circle the words that they need to know for the test on Friday. Each child’s list is individualized.

Each week in grammar we will cover a specific skill. There will be a quiz over that skill each Friday.

UNITED STATES HISTORY TO 1860*Early Native American cultures developed in North America*European exploration in North America*Factors that shaped British colonial America*Causes, events, and results of the American Revolution*Challenges faced by the new nation*Westward expansion of America between 1801 – 1861*Ideas of the abolitionist and suffrage movements*Geography and Map Skills*Economic understandings

Ecology

Weather

Forces and Motion

Stars and Solar System

Light and Sound

Math ~ Mrs. Urban

KNOWING MULTIPLICATION FACTS IS A MUST!!!

o number sense and mathematical operations

o fractions and decimals are a BIG focus this year

o geometry

o measurement

o Multistep word problems

Your child will have an opportunity to practice

three kinds of writing this year: Narrative,

Persuasive, and Informational Writing.

Practice using Microsoft Word with your child,

especially saving files, editing (cut, paste, copy),

highlighting text to change font size, centering

text, and other skills.

*Drop Everything and Read time (silent reading time)

*We try to take 15 minutes during our Literacy Block at least 3 times each week to read a book of our choice.

*Everyone, including Mrs. Gunter, reads.

*Please be sure that you still read to your child at least once each week. Let them see you reading and asking questions as you read.

COGAT – It is an abilities test. Fourth graders took this test on August 20, 21, 22 (last week).

GCRCT will be given in April 2014.

If you begin to cry or want to throw your child’s math book across the room, please stop. Take a deep breath and email me. Let me handle it. That is my job. Smileeeeeeeeee…..

Gradingprogress reports every 4 weeks - report cards every 9 weeks

A = 90-100B = 80 – 89C = 71 – 79D = 70 F = 69 and below

Students have the opportunity to correct ANY papers with a score below 70.  If corrected, signed by a parent, and returned to school the next day, the student’s grade will be raised to 70.

Don’t forget about family portal! Contact the front office for more information.

Join PTA! Forms available at the PTA tables in the lobbies or online at www.lrepta.org Receive a free water bottle when you purchase 2 memberships for $12! Help your teacher earn a GREAT prize! Each teacher that reaches 100% memberships will receive a Starbucks coffee and have a chance to win a weekend get-a-way to Lake Lanier Islands!

Your PTA membership card gets you into all school function free of charge (non members pay $6.00 at the door for each event) while helping to support the children of Little River!!

Purchase your LRE Spirit Wear by September 7th! Order forms are available on our website. Just print and send it in with your payment!

Visit our website at www.lrepta.org for an up to date calendar and contact info!

Volunteer opportunities are still available. If you would like to be a PTA volunteer, log onto our website where you can sign up to help.

We are looking forward to a GREAT year!

PTA NEWS

E-Mail

Newsletters

Website

Agenda

Notes

OH, YES PLEASE…

Room Moms:

Hope Burgamy

Veronica HewgleyVolunteer in

our Classroom!

for taking the time to attend Curriculum Night!

I look forward to working with you and your child this year. It is going to be a wonderful year filled with

exciting learning activities!